Follow-up - INA
NASA has launched an unprecedented space mission to send a robot into Earth orbit in an attempt to save the aging Swift telescope from falling and burning up in the atmosphere.
The $30 million mission aims to give the telescope, which is gradually descending towards Earth, a new chance to continue its work observing some of the most violent phenomena in the universe.
The LINK spacecraft, developed by Catalyst Space Technologies, launched from the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean aboard a small Pegasus rocket, which was itself launched from a modified aircraft.
The spacecraft is expected to take about a month to reach an orbit close to the Swift telescope before beginning a series of complex maneuvers to locate it, orbit it, and then dock with it using three robotic arms.
After successful docking, the robot will attempt to gradually push the telescope into a higher orbit to avoid vibrations that could damage its sensitive instruments, in a process expected to take at least a month.